South African university says vice-chancellor was assaulted

October 14, 2016 - 10:27 AM

JOHANNESBURG - A South African university says its vice-chancellor was assaulted by protesters after he met with them to discuss their demands for free university education.

The University of Cape Town said protesters encircled and pushed Vice-Chancellor Max Price outside a campus building Friday. The university says Price took two punches to the body as he tried to walk away, and police used stun grenades to disperse the protesters.

Separately, police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters at the Vanderbijlpark campus of the Vaal University of Technology, and demonstrators marched in Johannesburg to the Chamber of Mines to demand corporate funding for education.

The government says it will cover 2017 fee increases for poor university students. Protesters, however, say the plan is insufficient and demand the gradual implementation of free university education.

OPINION At least part of me wasn’t sure I should write this, given what happened last time. It was August 15, 2003 and like many Thursdays before it, I was scratching around for a column idea. The summer newsroom